Un-sportsmanship conduct will not be tolerated! Examples of this are loud excessive profanity, breaking or throwing any equipment, malicious behavior, sandbagging, cheating of any kind, gambling, distracting other player when they are at the table and any unwanted physical conduct. Violations could result in suspension and or expulsion from the league. Striking another player will be cause for expulsion from the league!!!!

2. BY_LAW Changes

ANY and ALL by laws may be changed at ANY time so the printed or on line copy may not be accurate. Contact league office at gnatili@hotmail.com for any updated copies

.

3. Team Dues

The captain is responsible for collecting and remitting the team dues and score sheets. However the whole team is responsible for the weekly $30.00. Any uncollected dues could result in withholding from and prizes or awards for the entire team. In short team members need to make sure everyone is doing their part in maintaining a viable team.

We at Penn-Ohio United TAP want to build a strong enjoyable pool league with your help we will. Penalties for non payment of league money (see Below)!

4. League fees

National TAP fees are $20.00 per year. You must pay at least 1 week before you play the first time. Players cannot be entered into the computer database PoolNet handicapping system until membership is paid. Yearly dues must be paid prior to the 18th of the month in which they are due!! Any player not paid by then will be removed from your roster and not permitted to play until dues are paid!!! Penalties for nonpayment of league money (see Below)!

5. Discounts

Penn/Ohio United TAP will pay the first year national TAP membership fee for all captains that bring a team of over 50% new to TAP players. Penn/Ohio United TAP will pay yearly national TAP membership fees and partial weekly league fees for all area division reps. Penn/Ohio United TAP will give a $5.00 one time discount on first time national TAP membership to any new player that joins TAP.(NEW Teams captain must have over 50% new players) No discounts will apply if player does not pay on time any and all posted or published discounts are subject to change at any time so always check with your league operator for the current promotions!

6. Penn/Ohio United TAP Reserves the right to alter and change the bylaws at any time based on improving the league for all players. For general rules visit the national TAP Pool League www.tapleague.com

7. Start time: The first match will start at 7:00 PM. Or sooner if agreed on by both captains!

8. Adding players: A player may be added to a team at any time up till the last 6 weeks of league play. A player may be added after that deadline with division rep. approval and review by the league operator. (certain circumstances may permit addition of one or more players in the final 5 weeks)

9. Forfeits: A match forfeit must be the last match of the night and can not be uses as a strategy during league play! At no time may a team take 4 or 5 forfeits in one night of league play for any reason!! Every attempt to rescheduled the scheduled match in the following 2 weeks must be made and a mutually agreed on date setup! If there is no resolution then a 3/2 bye will be awarded to the team that showed up and no league fees are due. Any further matches by the forfeiting team (if they drop out) will also be 3/2 byes. Unless the division has a bye in the schedule then the teams with byes will play each other for the remainder of the session. NOTE ALL forfeits by both teams involved MUST be paid for no matter what! No team will be required to reschedule a match based on another leagues event. Any team not showing up the last week of the session or not trying to do a makeup for any reason! Will be immediately eliminated from any and all higher level play and any league awards including and not limited to (Cash,Plaques ,patches and trophy's) ### NOTE ### TAP higher level events NO TAP team or player will be penalized for attending a higher level TAP event as long as they have attemped in advance to reschedule or make up a scheduled match! All consideration should be given to any TAP player or team playing in a TAP higher level event as that team may be yours the next time HOWEVER they MUST make every effort to contact the other team or player!

9. Telephone rule: Here is how we will handle the use of phones in our leagues and higher level tournaments! ## This does not apply to Nationals or Rally or any other TAP leagues ## Only our local leagues!! Higher level play and events ""NO"" phones may be used at any time during a match unless for an emergency!

First-.A player may not approach the pool table when it is their shot with a Phone or electronic media device of any kind other than medically prescribed! The player will be warned one time by the other shooter only! The second time it will be a ball in hand foul third time loss of game and fourth time loss of match!

Second- There will be NO restrictions on a player talking or texting between shots as long as they are not causing a disturbance. we must take into account that people have lives outside pool (business and family) and for many reasons may need to talk or text them!! A 1 minute leeway will be granted ONCE during a match for someone to finish the communication if asked for! This will not be a charged timeout!

Third-A player has 45 seconds to get to the table and execute a shot from the time the other player steps away from the table if the player is stalling to get to the table to continue his or her conversation or text message then a warning and foul may be called using the shot clock procedure in the TAP rule book!

10 Double play Ghost (Benefit): This is a benefit allowed by your league operator to help a team in an emergency. This benefit may be revoked at any time!

If team A is short players and knows at the start of the night and team B. has a full roster at the start of the night. Team A may ask team B to allow double play (ghost). If team B agrees then it is final for the night and it can’t be changed. Unless team A’s players do not remain at the match until a double play has been selected A DOUBLE PLAY MATCH MAY BE PLAYED AT ANY TIME DURING THE NIGHT AS LONG AS BOTH TEAMS AGREE! or for some reason team a has another player show up. No player may play more than twice in any league night in the same division. All Ghost matches MUST be paid at the full $6.00. The Ghost play in the last 6 weeks of any session is PROHIBITED UNLESS APROVED BY THE LEAGUE OPERSTOR THROUGH THE DIVISION REP ONLY!! Any violation will result in loss of points! A player may not play for 2 teams in the same division on the same night unless APPROVED BY THE LEAGUE OPERATOR THROUGH THE DIVISION REP ONLY!

"" NO SHOWS "" A team will be given ONE benefit of the doubt and be allowed one and only one "NO SHOW" They will be warned and will not receive any points for that week! A second "NO SHOW" Will result in immediate removal of the team from the division and the "forfeit" of any and ALL league awards, payouts and playoff slots and trips. And monies forfeited back to the league will be returned to the general fund! Examples of no shows are only 1 player shows up or only 2 players show up with no others on their way!

Burn Out Strategy-Will not apply to weekly league play!!

If team A is short players and team B has a full roster to start the night. Team B may decide to take the forfeits instead of allowing the double play (ghost).

11. The 25 Handicap Rule: All teams must play by this rule see TAP LLC. Rule book

12. Higher Level Tournament Qualifications: When and if you win a national slot.You must fulfill all requirements in the TAP National handbook and be active on a team roster through all sessions up to and including the session the tournament is played including the division Best Of The Rest playoffs. 2018-2019 Titleholder requirements for this year only because we have 4 sessions a player or a team mat take one session off as long as they can still meet the TAP Nationals requirementa!

13.Time Outs: Two time outs per game will be allowed for 3 handicaps and below everyone else will have one only!

14. TIE BREAKER: If 2 teams are tied at the end of the session. The tie breaker will be The team with the most team wins e.g.: 2/1 out of 3 will be the winner! If two teams have equal team wins e.g.: 2/2 out of 4 then we will review individual matches won and the team with the most player matches won will be the winner, If the teams are still tied at that point then a captain on captain handicapped playoff will determine the winner!

15 Host location

All rules of the host will be observed. Including if a person is banned from that location then they cannot play

there. If masse and jump shots not permitted then we don’t do them. Smoking policies will be observed. Age

guidelines are stated in the TAP national rules and bar policies will over rule if different. Remember this is

their place of business and livelihoods respect all host locations rules.

We at Penn-Ohio United TAP Pool Leagues want to build a strong enjoyable pool league with your help we will!

16 8 Ball and 9 Ball League

Requirements FOR ANY AND ALL HIGHER LEVEL TOURNAMENTS

Players; MUST BE ACTIVE (MEANING ABLE TO OBTAIN THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF MATCHES FOR THE CURRENT SESSION)

Players; MUST HAVE HAD THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF MATCHES TO BE AN ACTIVE TEAM MEMBER IN THE SESSION THEY ARE PLAYING THE TOURNAMENT FOR!

ALL PLAYERS MUST BE CURRENT ON ALL LEAGUE DUES AND FEES AND BE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING.

OUR 8 and 9 BALL EVENTS ARE EVERY SESSION! Any team having won a titleholder MUST stay active as a player in any Penn-Ohio United TAP divisions up to and through the Nationals session. No team from the same division may win 2 titleholders however a player may play in and win a second Titleholder on a team with less than 50% of common players.

17 CAPTAIN TOURNAMENTS/MVP AND SINGLES

All Players must be active to be eligible to play in these events!

The Captain's and MVP tournaments Are not a rite but are a privilege! and all requirements must be met to take part in one of these!

If a player fails to attend the event they had won! Whether a buy in or league event any and all amounts collected will be added back to the league general fund! (League operator may allow entry into the next major event) If a player quits or does not stay active at any point! There is NO cash out option!

THE CAPTAINS AND MVP TOURNAMENTS ARE AN EXTRA BONUS PROVIDED TO OUR PLAYERS AND WE PROTECT AGAINST PLAYERS WINNING ONE SESSION AND NOT STAYING ACTIVE

Qualified players playing in any MVP tournament will play at the handicap they won the MVP and if they won MVP in 2 divisions at 2 different handicaps they must play at the higher handicap!

Qualified Captains playing in any captains tournament will play as the handicap they are currently in the app! NO Exceptions to either of these! Captains may be replaced with a co-captain but MVP'S may not be substituted unless there is a provable error! MVP status in the last 2 weeks of a session is If a player moves up or down in handicap and either knocks someone out of MVP or loses MVP because of it then Both players move on to the MVP tournament and if you lose a lower handicap slot because you moved up you will then play in the MVP tournament at the higher handicap! If you go down you will also play at the higher handicap!Thanks All and TAP ON!! Also if in doubt please contact division rep or league office on any issues!.

18 ### Team Shirt Policy ### Ever since we started with Our TAP Leagues we have given any team a $5.00 per shirt league credit per player up to 8 players on a team. This is for putting the local TAP logo or the national TAP logo on the shirt. The policy has always been a league credit $5.00 off one night of play or off yearly dues! No cash is handed out for this from the league. We do not offer this for bulk t-shirt orders or for non team individuals. Contact your division rep and have them contact the league office before any t-shirt purchase for approval!

19 !!! Proper Procedure # 2 !!! Players when you joined TAP I friended you so as to be able to share with you all the great things your TAP league has for you the player. Most of you are added to local groups and have been invited to like our Penn-Ohio United TAP Pool League page on Facebook. If and when you have any question as to the equipment being used in your local leagues or any other questions. The first step is to consult your captain and try to resolve the issue. Second step would then be for your captain to contact your area league rep and all our areas have one and some areas have 2. League reps address all issues at our rep meetings or may be able to resolve your issue in a shorter time frame. As to equipment I am sure if you ask who owns the equipment you will find that the TAP League nor I own any pool tables used for league play in any of our areas and have little say so as to the maintenance that is a local issue that must be brought to the equipment owner and the more people that contact them the better.

20 TAP requires 3 16 week sessions to remain a valid league that may vary session to session. Based on the scheduling and titleholder and best of the rests and Nationals being date sensitive we MUST adhere to these session limits meaning we can’t extend or shorten any session as this may cause conflicts with the overall operation of the league. Some divisions may be short in that session time frames for example a Monday night league may only get 13 playable weeks in a 16 week time frame as they may have 3 Monday holidays so that is the nature of the beast. What I have been hearing from a couple divisions is (Some teams have more byes than others and that's not fair) unfairness is based and defined as a collusion or willingness to do some one wrong! Think about it the schedules are random and there is a set amount of teams and weeks and so not every session every time will be exact so we move on this is called the luck of the draw and it may be you this session and not you next session. We will not add or take away weeks for that purpose. Thanks All!! TAP ON!! THIS POLICY has stood the test of time for over 7 years and will NOT be changed or altered!

21 League Schedules: Are done with a random computer program! They are never done to favor one team or another although some may think that! There are just so many week plays in a typical session and based on team count, locations, tables and total weeks is how it is done!

All schedules are subject to change at ANY time at the discretion of the league office!

22 Penalties for nonpayment of league money!

#NOTE# these penalties listed are not the only options the league office has for collection of league fees! Teams and players when you agree to play on a team or captain a team you have verbally agreed to a session contract to show up each week when needed and play for your team and pay your league fees including your yearly league dues! ALL captains are responsible for the collection and immediate remission of ALL league fees! Players owing money will have the sum of money posted to their name on pool net for everyone to see! Captains owing league fees will have that posted next to their name in pool net for everyone to see. The league office has the right and obligation to the league to collect all league fees through every means available including but not limited to Legal action, removal of a player or a whole team from the league holding any and ALL awards including but not limited to cash payouts ,trophies, patches and other awards such as trips and MVP or captains tournaments slots.

Penalties for early disbanding of a team!

Any team or player quitting any time during any session without fulfilling the obligation of playing a full session will immediately forfeit any and all rights to any and all awards, playoff slots and trips and cash. Any and all money will be returned to the league general fund!

#NOTE# these penalties listed are not the only options the league office has for the early disbanding of a team!

23 Cyber etiquette and

Penalties for cyber bashing !

A player in our leagues has many options for expressing their grievances!

Cyber bashing over the past few years has grown to senseless rants that are baseless and the league office has no way to defend the integrity of the league. So when it becomes evident that a player is using the League or League operator or representative in a cyber rant on ANY social media That person can and will be removed and banned from league play and will lose any and all league awards and or playoff slots, money or trips. No league issue will be displayed in social media and any messages or texts to a league official may not be copied and pasted in social media!

#NOTE# these penalties listed are not the only options the league office has for cyber bashing!

Defunct division! A division that starts the session and does not complete a full session is considered defunct. All league fees must be paid up to the date of quitting. ##NOTE## any players or teams owing money will have the amount attached to their name in pool net and will be subject to any and all collection efforts. All collected funds, awards, playoff spots or trips will be forfeited back to the league general fund! #NOTE# these penalties listed are not the only options the league office has for the early disbanding of a division!

The league has a board of reps that will review all written issues that are sent to gnatili@hotmail.com please state your point without profanity and name calling and keep it short and to the point! Communicating with TAP corporate all Issues MUST first be presented to your division Rep and then to gnatili@hotmail.com for resolution by passing these 2 steps will result in instant removal from Penn-Ohio United TAP pool league and loss of any and all league benefits and awards Including but not limited to (Upper level tournament play,cash,trophies,patches and plaques) emails to TAP corporate or any other TAP official or licensee must include a cc to gnatili@hotmail.com any failure to include the fore mentioned cc email will result in instant removal from Penn-Ohio United TAP pool league and loss of any and all league benefits and awards Including but not limited to (Upper level tournament play,cash,trophies,patches and plaques)

HIGHER LEVEL TOURNAMENT RULES

TITLEHOLDER,BEST OF THE RESTS AND DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Sportsmanship: RULE #1

The tournament director has the right to have an unruly person removed

Qualifications:

Each player on the team roster must have played THE LEAGUE REQUIRED # of matches, This session to qualify in the Titleholders, National Qualifier and the National Event. You must be on an active roster for any National Qualifier, i.e. Best Of The Rest, National Event and Rally in the Valley. Additional details are available on the website at www.taplegue.com

Your team must be paid in full for weekly dues and all memberships must be current, in order to participate in events. If they are not, you will NOT be able to participate.

Handicaps:

All computer generated handicaps in poolnet will be used during the titleholders tournament.

There will be no changes of any kind made to the team rosters once the event begins unless a typo in the program has occurred. All players’ membership status and handicaps have been verified prior to the start of this event and are not subject to change during the event. If a player is playing two skill levels over their handicap that player will be subject to review and or disqualification from the tournament.

Although the handicaps will not move during titleholders, the recorded information may affect your handicaps for the next league night match.

Common Players:

Important info. about common players. This is the ruling from Nationals on common players. We will abide by this decision with no changes.

“After careful review of many shared opinions from Licensees and Players, a decision has been made regarding common players that are on teams facing one another. This rule will be in effect immediately at all National events and may be subject to change in YOUR LOCAL AREA ONLY if YOUR LICENSEE should so choose.” The rule is as follows for National Tournaments: If two teams face one another and the teams have any common player(s), the player(s) are eligible to play for both teams without penalty as long as the player(s) meet the following two criteria: 1. The player(s) have met the proper requirements to be eligible to play in the tournament, and 2. When a Captain elects to put a player up for a match, the other Captain can never match the player to play him/herself. The team Captain’s will decide to play or not play player(s) based on their personal pick strategy, but the player(s) should not be penalized for being on multiple teams and should not be responsible for choosing sides. If someone is worried about that player throwing a game (this is a maybe), then that Captain should choose not to play that player.

If the team Captain is the common player, then the uncommon players on each team will take over the Captain responsibilities and all uncommon players must play in any order during the 5 matches.

If both teams are identical, then one team will be award 3 points and the other will be awarded 2 points. The team Captain may choose which team is award the 3 points.

Scorekeeping:

Score keeping is required by both teams

Time-Outs:

All players receive (1) one-minute time out only per game regardless of your handicap level. If the coach exceeds the one minute time limit, the opposing Captain, after timing the coach, can challenge for excessive use of time. At this point, the coach has 10 seconds to complete their advice to the shooting player. If there is a controversy, a Referee must be called. Remember that real time and perceived time are two different things. Handicap 2 players still receive unlimited coaching within the 45 second shot clock however, the Coach CANNOT approach the table to give advice. See Coaching for specific rules.

Coaching:

Only the coach or the player can call a time out.

Neither the coach nor the player can refuse a time out. Once a time out has been called or suggested, it must be taken.

If the coach or player calls a time out when they have already used their time out for that game, one warning will be given to the team. Any future violations throughout the entire teams matches will result in ball-in-hand foul to the opponent.

A second player can consult with the coach, but the coach is the only player who can communicate directly to the player or approach the table. Only the (2) shooting players and their coaches are allowed in the playing area.

Only the coach or the player can ask for a third party to watch a close hit. Players are solely responsible for verifying a frozen ball. Coaches cannot interfere unless a timeout is taken. If another team member asks, one warning will be given. On the second infraction, ball in hand foul.

The only communication between the player and the coach is during a time out situation by either team or between GAMES. The player cannot talk to anyone but the coach of their team while playing their match. To avoid controversy, the coach should be declared at the beginning of the match by both teams and the player should attempt to sit away from their team if possible.

The coach CANNOT use any equipment to give instruction to their player. First offense is a warning. Then Ball-in-hand Foul.

When coaching a handicap 2 level player, the coach must declare when they are taking their one official time out so the opposing player can consult with their coach. The opposing player cannot consult with their coach during coaching assistance within the 45 seconds shot clock.

Handicap (2) players get unlimited coaching assistance within the 45-second shot clock, but the Coach CANNOT approach the table unless a TIME OUT has been called. When coaching a H/C (2) player, if the coach approaches the table it is considered a time out and a warning should be issued by the opposing Captain or Referee if the TIME OUT was not declared by the Coach. If it happens a second time after a warning has been issued, it is a Ball-in-hand foul. All coaching during a non time out must occur away from the playing area.

Sideline Interference:

The ONLY thing ANY player on the team can say to the shooting player is when it is their turn at the table regarding the match is “mark your pocket” when the shooter is on the 8-Ball. Comments such as nice shot, let’s go, etc. are allowed. Use common sense. Don’t clap or yell out YES!!! When the other player misses. Be quiet and show respect to the shooting players. Excessive outbursts will result in disqualification.

If any comments are made of any kind that could be considered coaching, by any player on the team, the team will be given one warning. Any further comments will result in a ball-in-hand foul to the opposing player. This applies to the remainder of all matches between the two teams, not just the match where the warning was issued. The match belongs to the players. Let them win or lose on the table, based on their individual skills.

Any person making comments from the sidelines that is not on either team playing a match will be given one warning to stop. If it occurs again they will be ejected from the tournament area and the event.

Ball-in-hand:

In a ball-in-hand situation, the shooting player can position the cue ball with ANY part of the cue, not including the tip and ferrule. A foul occurs if the shooting player touches the cue ball while in the act of stroking the pool cue to execute the shot. The coach may touch the table but cannot mark the table in any manner to influence the shooting players shot selection. Marking the table is an automatic Ball-in Hand Foul. To avoid controversy, DO NOT touch the felt. If the coach places the cue ball it is a ball in hand foul.

Listening Devices:

NO listening devices of any kind will be allowed during the team or singles events in order to reduce communication controversies between the two shooting players. This includes cell phones, Bluetooth or any electronic device unless it is used for medical use only.

The 45 second shot clock/Slow Play:

If you have timed the opposing player and verified they are exceeding the 45 second shot clock consistently, you must first notify a Referee and report the violation.

The Referee has the final say.

Accidental movement of a ball:

If the shooting player accidentally moves a ball prior to their shot, the opposing player has the option of leaving the ball where it was moved or returning it to its original position. If the shooting player grabs the moved ball to replace it, it is not a foul.

If the shooting player accidentally moves a ball during the execution of their shot, putting the cue ball in motion and then touches the moved ball while other balls are in motion or another ball on the table strikes the ball that was moved or strikes the cue stick, bridge etc. it is a ball-in-hand foul. If the balls moved by the cue stick, bridge etc. does not or would not disrupt the shot then there is no foul and the opponent has the right the move the balls to their original position.

Four-second rule:

If a ball hangs in a pocket for longer than four (4) seconds, then drops, that ball must be brought out and placed as close to where it was before it dropped.

Push Shot:

If the cue ball is frozen to the object ball, pushing through the cue ball is a legal hit. If there is any separation between the two balls equal to or less than the width of a piece of chalk, the shooter “should make an attempt” to not double hit the cue ball by elevating (upward) their cue to at least a 45 degree angle to avoid being called for double hitting the cue ball with their cue stick. As long as the attempt is made, there is no foul. NOTE: You DO NOT have to elevate your cue stick if you know how to make this shot without double hitting the cue ball. Elevating your cue stick is a recommendation not a rule to avoid being called for a double hit foul, which results in a ball-in-hand.

Miscellaneous rules:

When shooting a defensive shot, be sure to clearly announce your intentions to the opposing player to avoid controversy. You must “MARK THE POCKET” ON ALL 8-BALL shots. Not marking the pocket on a completed 8-Ball shot is loss of game. The only marker that is acceptable will be provided by the tournament director. Be sure to clearly identify which pocket you are marking.

Unscrewing a jointed cue into two pieces is a concession of your match, unless you notify your opponent that you are changing shafts. Do not break down your break stick until the end of the last match.

Two piece Jump cues are allowed. Use of a shaft only is NOT allowed.

If you shoot the wrong category of balls and your opponent does not call a ball in hand foul after the first ball is pocketed and a second ball is made, the shooting player is now that category of balls for the remainder of that game, unless they admit a ball in hand foul before a second ball is made. Pay attention!

A concession of a game or a shot may be examples like putting your hand in the pocket to catch the qball can be called a scratch to avoid any arguments never put your hand in a pocket let the ball drop! Saying good game before I shoot the game ball is a loss of game! These ar a couple examples let your common sense rule on your behavior and sportsmanship!

Once a match has ended, each team has 5 minutes maximum to field a player.

Once either Captain has made their pick for the next match, they cannot change their pick.

Every player has the right to ask for their opponents Photo ID.

There will be a three hour and 30 minute time limit on all matches played. Once the 3 ½ hour limit is reached all remaining matches will be played as sudden death just one game! The sudden death time limit will be waived for the semi-finals and finals matches however in those matches teams will be required to play on 2 tables at the 2 hour point! All teams will be notified at the outset of the semi-finals! TAP reserves the right to change or amend the rules at any time!